Toilet article



Oct. 14, 1930. B RH ET AL 1,778 243 TOILET ARTICLE Filed May 14, 1928 Fig? 9 INVENTORS MM 71% MM- ATTORNEYJ Patented Oct. 14, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAMES A. BURHANS A m RA'NDAI. w. CLARK, or TULSA, OKLAHOMA TOILET ARTICLE Application filed May 14,

This invention relates to toilet articles, and

1S concerned particularly with compact and portable toilet articles to be carried on or about the person, such as vanity cases and 5 the like.

In order to be able to use a vanity case to bestadvantage, proper illumination of the features of the'user is necessary, but frequently this is not possible, due to poor light or darkness, so that proper illumination must ,be sought or the use of the vanity case abandoned.

It is theprincipal object of this invention to' provide a vanity case which includes illuminating means to be used at will whenever necessary to illuminate the face of the user, so that the features may be'clearly visible in the mirror forming part of the vanity case. In accordance with this object, we have devised a vanity case including the usual cosmetics and the small mirror preferably mounted in the lid of the case. As a means for providing artificial light at will whereby the use of the vanity case in dim light or darkness is made possible, we provide in the case a small incandescent light which may be energized at will by a switch-controlled dry cell battery. The incandescent light is mounted in a reflector which is so arranged that it will reflect light upon the face of'the user whereby the features are clearly visible in the mirror mounted within the lid of the vanity case. The illuminating meansis energized at will by manipulatlng a suitable contact device, and the electrical connections oftthe illuminating means are automatically broken when the vanity case is. closed, this Contact breaking arrangement including a push-rod connected to one of the contacts of the incandescent light and being. actuated to disconnect that contact when the lid of the case is closed down upon the cosmetic receptacle. This push-rod also acts to close a contact whenever the lid of the case is raised for use, but the electrical circuit including this contact must be subsequently closed by manipulating the aforesaid contact device in order to complete the circuit through the incandescent light. In this way, the incandescent light may be energized at will, but

1928. Serial No. 277,581.

is automatically de-energized when the vanity case is closed. Y

For a betterunderstanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4: show exterior views of our new vanity case;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal cross-section taken along the line AA of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 illustrates the preferred'arrange- 6o ment of the visible contents of the vanity case when it is in open position;

Fig. 7 is a transverse cross-sectiontaken along'the line B B of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 8'is a longitudinal cross-section taken along the line CC of Fig. 4.

In these drawings, numeral 1 designates the case or cosmetic receptacle having a butt hinge 2 at one edge, which connects the lid 3 thereto. At one side of the case 1 is a sliding switch or contact button 4 which may be actuated by the finger or thumb of the user. The usual swivel 5 for attaching a carrying chain or the like is provided at one end of the case 1, while a latch 6, releasable by button 7 normally holds the lid 3 in position on the case 1. A mat 9 secures a glass or polished metal mirror 10 .within the lid 3. In a similar way, the powder, rouge and lip paste mat 17 fits within alignment ring 8, this mat having openings through which access may be had to powder 12, rouge 15, and lip paste 33. The powder 12 is in the form of a cake or sifter mounted in tray 13, the rouge cake or sitter 15 is similarly mount ed in tray 16, and lip paste 33 is also similarly mounted in tray 34, these trays all being placed upon a removable partition 31, resting upon partition support 32, secured to the inside surface of case 1. In-the openings of mat 17 for access to powder cake 12 and rouge cake 15 are laid powder puff 11 and rouge puii 14, respectively.

In one corner of the case, preferably 1e mote from the hinged mirror, is a receptacle containing hemispherical reflector 19 of conducting material, having an attached screw threaded socket 265, in which incandescent light bulb 18 is screwed, this light bulb including the usual screw-base 25, which "makes 10 one'contact for the filament, and center contact 24, constituting the other .contact for the filament. Adjacent one side of the reflector 19 and projecting through the mounting therefor is a push-rod 20 which is secured to a strip of insulation 21, in turn fastened to electrical contact spring 23 by rivets- 22. This contact spring is secured to theinside wall of the light receptacle by means of circuit making rivets 27, which are securedattheir opposite ends in acontact plate 40. In order to insulate these contact pieces 23 and 40 from the inside wall of the case, strips of insulation 28 are interposed between contact spring 23 and contact plate 40 and this side wall. Contact spring 23 is placed sothat it lies directly beneath the center contact 24 of incandescent light bulb 18, so that when spring contact 23 is released by disengagement of push-rod 20, this spring may make contact with center contact '24 of incandescent bulb 18.

Within the receptacle formed by the Walls of the casingand partition 31 is placed a three-cell dry battery 30, which is preferably of standard design and includes the electrolytic mixture 42 containing carbons 41, two of which are connected by jumper bars 39 to the metallic walls 43 of the adjacent cell,

these cells being insulated from each othertrically connected to the case 1, the circuit is made frombattery through contacts 38 and 35, case 1, reflector 19 and socket 26 to light bulb 18, and if the'vanitycase is. open contact spring 23 is in connection with central contact 24 of light bulb 18, the electrical circuit through the bulb 18 is complete and it will be illuminated. The other terminal of the battery 30 consists of a contact spring 29, which bears continuously against contact plate 40. V K 7 When using the vanity case, the user presses button 7 inthe usual way,'thereby releasing lid 3 from catch 6, and inasmuch as push-rod 20 bears against mat 9 of lid 3, the contact spring 23, being'released, pushes 11d 3 upwardly a fraction of an inch so that theuser may grasp the lid and open it theremainder of the way. When contact spring 23 is released in the manner described, it engages centra1= contact 24 of incandescent light bulb 18, thus placing the light in readiness for use, although the circuit is not com pleted until button 4 is pushed in the man- 129, back to battery 30. When the light bulb 18 is thus illuminated, the light therefrom is reflected upon the face of the user of the,

vanity case when thecase is held in the usual way, so that the features are visible in the mirror 10 of the open lid 3, The reflector 19 is so shaped that the rays of light from the reflector 19 do not fall upon the mirror 10,

so that'the user is not-blinded by reflectedlight. After the vanity case has been used and when the lid 3 is closed down'upon' the case 1 to be locked by latch 6,.the mat 9 of the" lid again engages push-rod 20, forcing it downwardly so that electrical connection between central contact 24 and contact spring 23 is broken, thus disconnecting the light bulb 18. The electrical circuit is broken in this way,.even though the user fails to release push-button 4, but this pushbutton is so arranged that it must be held in closed position in order to keep contacts 38 and 35 in engagement. In this way the automatic circuit breaking arrangement is independent of the manual circuit-closing arrangement and it is immaterial to the operation of the automatic circuit breaker.

whether the manually-operated contact-but ton 4 is in circuit closing position or not...

In other words, the electric light bulb is always extinguished when lid 3 is closed down upon case 1. This conserves the energy of the battery and extends its life considerably,

because it is only used when artificial illumination is required. I I

' As the partition 31 is removable, the bat-. tery may be readily removed and .replaced whenever desirable, and when this is done the battery is placed in operativeposition immediately. because its spring contact 29 makes electrical connection with contact plate 40 while terminal contact 38 is placed in position for connection with sliding con;

tact 36, whenever push-button 4 is manually actuated. i

' Whilethe new toilet article has been illustrated and described as a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many changes may be made in form and detail .within the scope of the invention, and further, although the device has been described as being used primarily for the application of cosmetics, the illuminating means may be used separately as a pocket flash-light When- I ever necessary, so that the new device is both a pocket flash-lightand a vanity case.

We claim 1. In a vanity case, the combination-of a receptacle for toilet articles, a lid forthe recep- I 'tacle permitting access to the interior thereof,

receptacle, an incandescent bulb, a spring contact normally engaging the base of the bulb and connecting the bulb to one terminal of said source when the case is open but disconnected therefrom when the case is closed,

a push-rod on said contact arranged to be actuated by closure of the lid to break said 7 connection, anda sliding contact manually operated to connect the other terminal of said source in the light circuit. I

3. In a vanity case, the combination of a cosmetic receptacle, a lid therefor, a dry cell in the receptacle permitting access to the interior thereof, an incandescent bulb in the receptacle, a spring contact normally engaging the base of the bulb and connecting the bulb to one terminal of the cell when the case is open but disconected therefrom when the case is closed, a manually operated contact for connecting the bulb to the other terminal of the cell, and a push-rod mounted on the spring contact for engagement with the lid of the case to disconnect said contact from the'bulb when the case is closed.

4. In a vanity case, the combination of a receptacle permitting access to the interior thereof, a lid therefor, a removable tray therein for containing cosmetics, a-d cell beneath the tray, an incandescent bulb in the receptacle, "a springcontact normally engaging the bulb when the box is open but disconnected therefrom when the case is closed, electrical connections between the contactand one terminal of the cell, a manually opbetween the cell and the light, a contact plate on the partition mounted for engagement by one terminal of the cell, a spring contact mounted on the partition for normal engagement with the central contact of the light, electrical connections between the spring contact and said contact plate, a push rod mounted on said spring contact and having a projection for engagement'by the lid of the case when closed for disconnecting the spring Contact from the light, a movable contact arranged for engagement with the other terminal of the cell, and electrical connections between the movable contact and the light.

In testimony whereof we ailix our signatures.

JAMES A. BURHANS. RANDAL W. CLARK. 

